The mind I love most must have wild places, a tangled orchard where dark damsons drop in the heavy grass, an overgrown little wood, the chance of a snake or two, a pool that nobody fathomed the depth of, and paths threaded with flowers planted by the mind.”
Katherine Mansfield, Katherine Mansfield Notebooks: Complete Edition
Writing is not necessarily a natural activity for many. Some force themselves to be creative. Others, because of work schedules and family responsibilities, have to carve out time to sit and write. And if you are under stress for whatever reason, it can be difficult to clear your mind and focus on something other than your intense challenges.
We all have our own situations which are not necessarily unique, but they do not have a clearly defined solution. Our desire to write is strong, but the act takes a lot more energy.
As I have navigated my own stressful challenges, I have had to stick to my daily writing routine to maintain my sanity. But I have learned there is one thing I can always count on to give me a needed boost: I go outside.
And I have spent a lot of time in the outdoors, especially the last four years, now that I have increased my gardening habits and purposely made my front porch a comfortable haven to enjoy my flowers and to write.
Why is nature the best writing prompt? What can you look for in nature to inspire you?
Why nature is an incredible writing prompt
We are drawn to nature, well, naturally. Research indicates that gardening helps our mental and emotional health. Even the colors of the garden affect our mood, such as bright yellow impacting our happiness, or blues and purples which soothe and relax.
When we are in a setting that encourages us to look at the sky rather than our computer or phone screens, we observe more than we would otherwise.
Think too of your other active senses: hearing, smelling, touching, even tasting if the scents are powerful enough. When our senses become active, our brain goes into overdrive, and we begin forming opinions and ideas and feelings over what we experience.
And many people, including myself, find that just an hour of immersing ourselves in the outdoors, doing nothing but capturing our observations in our brains, means that when we return to the office, we are more productive. We feel energized and enlightened.
Plus, there are many ideas waiting for us to discover them.
When our senses become active, our brain goes into overdrive, and we begin forming opinions and ideas and feelings over what we experience.
How to use nature to inspire you
Creation offers us an array of ideas to invoke our imagination. In order for us to activate our creativity with nature, we need to be outside. What are some things we can do to capture even just a few moments of the natural setting of our beautiful planet?
Try walking, whether alone or with your dog.
Have a few minutes in the morning before you head to work? Sit outside on your porch or steps while you sip your coffee.
Rushing in the morning? Try taking a few minutes at lunchtime to sit outside or even better, go for a short walk.
And at night, wind down by sitting or walking outside.
“In the woods is perpetual youth. In the woods we return to faith and reason.”
Ralph Waldo emerson
Once you are outdoors, activate your creative mind. First, push aside your to-do lists, anxieties, and other stressors. Instead, live in the moment.
Next, put away your phone and pay attention to the beauty around you. Look around and actively observe the flowers, the trees, the child riding his bike. What sounds do you hear? Are there various bird songs around you? What types of birds are they? What colors stand out to you? Do you hear the breeze tickle the leaves and feel it on your skin? Study the leaves and their shapes and colors. What do they make you think of?
What other colors surround you? What shimmers in the sunlight?
Be nosy. What plants are your neighbors growing? Do you notice the insects—the butterflies, bees, ladybugs, praying mantis—and what they are attracted to? What kind of personality do each of them seem to have to you?
Finally, keep a notebook and pen with you. Jot down what you see and how it makes you feel, even if it is a sentence or two.
How nature helps both our mental health and productivity
You likely realize that good mental health increases our productivity. When we feel good, we have more energy and are easily inspired. The opposite is also true. When we feel poorly or depressed, it can be physically hard to hold a pen, let alone write.
The more you spend time in the outdoors, surrounded by creation, allowing your skin to drink in the sunlight (safely of course), observing the array of color, spotting wildlife and insects, the more you will experience mental and emotional well-being. And in turn, the more you will feel inspired to be creative.
“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”
Albert Einstein
So when you feel uninspired or stuck in your writing, head outside. Go for a walk, visit a garden or park, grab a coffee and then go to the park and just look around. As writers, we bring our own observations to life, so…observe.
The wonders around us never get old or boring. We just need to allow ourselves the room to explore and discover new ways of looking at these splendors we often take for granted.
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